Sanguine Blemish
by Azeleas
Summary: He really needed to wake Koala. Letting his mind wander was, apparently, both dangerous and disheartening.


"This... this is really amazing!", Koala stammered, leafing through the papers in her lap. "I mean, seriously, Sabo."

"Don't mock me.", he responded, not even glancing up from the book he was reading.

"I'm not!", she cried. "It's really magnificent... It's so professionally written. I just can't believe I didn't know that you wrote."

He looked over at her bashfully, combing his fingers through his disheveled, wavy locks and allowing a pinch of blush to paint his face. "A little bit of every night before bed... or almost every night, at least since I was a kid. I've got boxes under the bed of nothing but half-finished stories."

"So why haven't I read any of your writings before?", she inquired, shifting her weight and settling into a more comfortable position.

"I don't like to talk about it, I guess." Sabo suddenly hardened his eyes and turned his intent gaze upon her. "Listen... this is going to sound terribly childish, but I've never let anyone read my stuff before... probably wouldn't even have let you if you hadn't brow-beaten me into it..."

"I'm glad I did." Koala interrupted with a triumphant smile, putting down one sheaf of paper and pulling another from the worn leather portfolio that she had thieved from Sabo only an hour before.

"...Right, whatever... Just don't say anything to anyone, alright? It's kind of embarrassing."

"What's embarrassing about it?", she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I suppose I'm just not ready to show my scribbles to anyone yet. Besides, it's unrefined and it's lacking in many areas." Sabo shook his head and turned his eyes back to his work. "There's still so many places I have yet to see... So many things I want to write about..."

"Hmm.", Koala hummed, smirking as she rolled on her stomach and began reading another of Sabo's stories. He opened his mouth in reply but, feeling soundly beaten, closed it again and leaned against the headboard of his bed, resuming his own reading.

As Sabo started delving back into the story he was reading, his mind wandered to the girl lying at the foot of his bed. Koala had been going to a lot of missions for the past few weeks, even more than she usually did. She probably hadn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks, but she still kept on going. He felt a sense of admiration fluttering in his chest, seeing she was so similar to him in many ways. Trice now had she sat on Sabo's bed for hours and talked, read, napped, or merely sat about enjoying a moment's peace. Naturally, he had asked her more than once why she wasn't simply going back to her room to get a bit of rest for the next day's trials. Koala quickly threw up her defenses and explained that Sabo had been near death only days before, after his intense training with Dragon. She also told him he deserved to have someone give him company, or at least, she smirked, pity him, while he was still being forcefully bedbound.

When he settled his eyes on her again, Sabo found that his exhausted companion had drifted off to sleep at the foot of his bed. The young man smiled fondly as he watched her stir slightly, then settle her head into a more comfortable position atop her folded arms. Sabo reached his hand across the bed with the intention of waking her softly - he begrudgingly assumed that she ought to be getting back to her room to a more comfortable bed - when he froze. Koala shifted again, the movement this time drawing her tee shirt up from her waist, but still revealing a ribbon of porcelain skin. Sabo saw, peeking out from below the hemline of Koala's shirt, a sun shaped blemish that resembled a patch of skin after a burn.

Someday, Sabo knew, someone would see it. A future boyfriend, perhaps, would be taking in her lovely, fair skin and notice the sanguine brand on her back. He frowned for a reason he did not want to comprehend. What would she tell him? Would she be forced to reveal herself? Whether her lover accepted her or not, she would still find no relief because not just anyone could truly understand her.

Sabo blinked and realized he was gritting his teeth and grasping his comforter angrily. The story, however ridiculous it might seem to someone on the outside, would be the reality of Koala's situation. He gulped and exhaled. He really needed to wake Koala. Letting his mind wander was, apparently, both dangerous and disheartening.


End file.
